Electronic commerce, such as online shopping, has been increasingly common since the advent of the Internet. Online shopping websites generally provide a user interface for customers to select products to purchase. After the customer has selected products for purchase, the customer typically can choose from multiple payment options to purchase the products. Two conventional payment options generally supported by online merchants are using a financial account (for example, a credit card account or checking account) and using a third party payment processor, such as PAYPAL® or other processor.
To complete an online purchase using a credit card or other financial account, a consumer typically provides a significant amount of information to the merchant via the merchant's website. This information generally includes an account identifier (for example, credit card number, debit card number, etc.), shipping information, and the name, address, and contact information of the consumer. The requirement of entering this information for each merchant from which the consumer makes purchases can be cumbersome and frustrating to the consumers. This requirement can be particularly frustrating and difficult for consumers making online purchases using a mobile device, as many mobile devices do not include a user interface optimized to enter significant amounts of information. This deficiency for mobile devices results in substantially lower mobile browser conversion rates from product searching to product purchase compared to desktop browser conversion rates.
One conventional approach to alleviating the burden on the consumer involves a toolbar plug-in application for web browsers. Conventional toolbar applications are used to automatically populate web forms, such as a web form for receiving payment and consumer information for completing an online purchase, with stored information. However, these conventional toolbar applications often are inaccurate, as they merely attempt to predict which form is presented on a web page and then preload default values for the predicted form.
The use of a third party payment processor to complete online purchases is another approach to alleviating the burden of entering a significant amount of information at each merchant's website. Generally, a third party processor requires a consumer to register for an account and to provide one or more payment options. After registering, the consumer can use the payment options to complete purchases at participating merchants' websites. To complete an online purchase using the third party payment processor, the consumer generally selects a link at the merchant's website and, in response, the consumer is redirected from the merchant's website to a website of the third party payment processor. At this website, the consumer first has to provide login information and then can select one of the payment options to complete and confirm the purchase. After the purchase is confirmed, the consumer is directed back to the merchant's website. The third party payment processor then settles with the financial institution associated with the selected payment option and with the merchant to complete the transaction.
The use of a third party processor has several deficiencies. First, the process is disruptive to the consumer as the consumer is directed away from the merchant's website to the third party payment processor's website and then back to the merchant's website. Second, the use of a third party payment processor limits the amount of information that the merchant receives. For example, the merchant may not have access to information associated with the consumer or information regarding the payment method used. The use of a third party processor also presents an additional cost to the merchant.
Thus, a need in the art exists for systems and methods that overcome one or more of the above-described limitations.